Article support



Dec. 1, 1942.

H. MENDELSON ARTICLE SUPPORT.

Filed 1m. 2s, 1939 Patented Dec. 1, 1942 UNETE srrs e .OFFIQE ARTICLE SUPPORT Hans Mendelson, Camden, N. J., assignor to Radio Corporation of America, a corporation of Dela-' ware Application December 28, 1939, Serial No. 311,328

3 Claims.

quently confronted with the necessity of temporarily resting the records upon a suitable support either preparatory to playing them, or while changing records. In any case, the advantages of a record supporting rack in which the records may be placed quickly in safety and from which they can be equally quickly Withdrawn is obvious, and the primary object of my present invention is to provide a record supporting rack which offers these advantages.

More particularly, it is an object of my invention to provide a phonograph record storage rack which will support a relatively large number of records with safety and which will occupy a minimum of space.

It is also a further object of my present invention to provide an improved record storage rack which can be folded up when not in use and which, in folded condition, will occupy practically no more space than a single record.

It is also an object of my present invention to I provide an improved record storage rack, as aforesaid, which is durable in construction, yet very inexpensive, and which is highly eflicient in use.

In accordance with my present invention, I form the record supporting rack out of a sheet of material which is normally plane and which can be bent or folded into a suitable form having three dimensions. The sheet is provided with a plurality of transverse slots each of which is adapted to receive a disc record, and the bent or folded sheet is retained in the desired form by suitable connecting means preferably placed adjacent the base or side edges of the sheet member.

The novel features that I consider characteristic of my invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and manner of use, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of two embodiments thereof, when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is an end view of one form of my invention showing the rack in unfolded, record supporting position,

Figure 2 is a similar view of this 'form of my invention but showing the rack in folded condition,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan View of this form of my invention showing the means forretaining the base member thereof in position, and Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of another form of my invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, wherein similar reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout, I have shown, in Figs. 1 to 3, a normally flat or plane sheet which may be made of cardboard, fibre, sheet metal, semi-hard rubber, or any other suitable material which is fairly flexible.

The sheet I may be folded into. an inverted V-shape along a longitudinal fold II which extends in parallel relation to the side edges Ia of the sheet I midway between these side edges, and the sheet is provided with a plurality of transverse slots 3 which extend across the longitudinal fold ll. Each of the slots 3 is adapted to receive a phonograph disc record R when the rack is set up for use, as shown in Fig. l.

The sheet I may be covered with a suitable ornamental covering 4| of thin, sheet material. Hinged to the longitudinal edges la of the sheet I by means of a continuous flexible strip 43 of thin, sheet material are a pair of sheet members 45. At the juncture between the sheet members 45 and the sides lc of the member I, the sheet 43 provides folds 4'! constituting hinge joints between the sheet members 45 and the sides lc of sheet I. Another piece of thin flexible, sheet material, cemented to the bottoms of sheet members 45, acts as a hinge 5! for the latter members. When the record supporting rack constituting this form of my invention is prepared for storage or shipment, the members 45 are folded on each other between the folds or side portions lc of the member I, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, to provide a substantially flat structure. The side portions lc are shown considerably separated in Fig. 2 for the sake of clearness but in actual practice, they fold almost flat upon each other and the folded structure is quite thin. When it is desired to set the rack up for use, the side portions lc are separated to inverted V form, as shown in Fig. 1, and the sheet members 45 are unfolded into a common plane to constitute the base of the rack. A cross-piece or flap 53 formed partly in each of the members 45 and made continuous by the sheet 49 may be bent up to an upright position, as shown in Fig. 3, to provide stiffness to the base members 45 and to prevent their accidentally folding inwardly.

Fig. 4 shows a form of my invention quite similar to that shown in Fig. 1. In this form of my invention, however, the sheet I is provided with a pair of folds 23 which extend parallel to the fold ll but are closer to the marginal edges la, the folds 23 corresponding to the hinges 41 of the previously described modification. This form of rack is also of substantially inverted V form when set up for use, the base portion of the rack constituted by the marginal portions lb of the sheet I lying between the side portions lc thereof. A strip 25 of flexible material is preferably secured to the marginal portions lb and constitutes a hinge at the meeting edges la. When it is desired to store the rack away or prepare it for shipment, the marginal portions lb are forced inwardly toward the fold ll and the side portions lc are brought toward each other, whereupon the rack assumes a substantially fiat shape.

Although I have shown and described two modifications of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many other modifications are also possible. I therefore wish it to be understood that I do not intend to be limited except insofar as is made necessary by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A phonograph record rack comprising a normally substantially flat sheet member folded along a longitudinal fold midway between its side edges, and a base of sheet material hingedly connected to said plane sheet and connecting said side edges to each other, said first named sheet having a plurality of transverse slots therein extending across the fold thereof and adapted to receive the records tobe supported, and said base constituting the sole means for retaining said rack in record supporting position.

2. A phonograph record rack comprising a normally plane sheet member folded along a longitudinal fold midway between its side edges, said sheet being adapted to be folded back on itself along said fold into substantially fiat form and unfolded along said fold into an inverted V form, and a pair of sheet members hingedly connected one each to each of the side edges of said first named sheet, said pair of sheet members being also hingedly connected to each other and arranged to fold on each other between the folds of said first named sheet when said latter sheet is folded into substantially flat form, and said pair of sheet members being adapted to unfold into a common plane when said first named sheet is unfolded into V form, whereby said pair of sheet members constitute a base for said rack, said first named sheet having a plurality of transverse slots therein extending across the fold thereof and adapted to receive the records to be supported by said rack.

3. A phonograph record rack according to claim 2 characterized by the addition of means on said base adapted to retain said sheet members in said common plane.

HANS MENDELSON. 

